Inductively-Coupled MEMS Pressure Sensor

This research paper introduces a novel design of an inductive sensor based on a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) inductive link. The sensor comprises two identical Al inductor coils micromachined on each side of a thinned silicon wafer. The sensing coil is suspended over a 30μm cavity etched in the silicon wafer. The sensor was designed, modeled, and simulated using the ANSYS Electronics 3D electromagnetic High-Frequency Simulation Software (HFSS). Simulated results showed that the impedance of the primary coil varied from approximately 2310 Ω to 2775 Ω over a deflection range of 20 μm, indicating an average sensitivity of 23.25 Ω/μm.